Frances Evelyn Curtis, the first child of James Lee and Bertha Eveland Curtis, was born in Watsonville, California on November 17, 1887. Frances’ parents were newlyweds who moved from Round Valley in Mendicino County to a farm on Green Valley Road in Watsonville, CA. Watsonville was Frances’ home for her entire childhood.
As the oldest child and a daughter, Frances helped her mother Bertha with household chores, worked on the farm, and cared for her younger siblings, especially Dorothy (see Dorothy Curtis). My grandmother, Lois Elvene Curtis, was 17 years younger than Frances and Frances was more like a mother than a sister to her.
Frances (and her siblings) likely attended Green Valley School just down the road from their farm on Green Valley Road. She Graduated from Watsonville High School in 1906.
Frances never married and remained very tiny her entire life. Her nephews believed she may have had some sort of genetic condition that resulted in her never going maturing. Her mother, Bertha, also indicated this was the case in medical records (California State Hospital Records). Frances was fondly remembered by all of her nieces and nephews and was close to and much loved by her siblings. She was a pillar of strength in the family, helping quietly whenever and wherever she was needed.
But there was much more to Frances’ life than being the stereotypical ‘maiden aunt’ who never married and helped to care for everyone else in the family. Frances was a career woman at a time when that wasn’t always an option for women. Her quiet life was remarkable and eventful. She lived and worked independently at a time when this was unusual for women, and her story is important!
In 1910, Frances moved to San Francisco to begin a three-year nursing program (one of the few professions open to women at that time). She graduated from The Morton School of Nursing in October of 1913. Located at 775 Cole Street in San Francisco, and owned by Dr. Andrew Morton, The Morton Hospital was a private hospital. Frances’ address was also 775 Cole Street, so the trainee nurses must have boarded at the hospital. Dr. Morton was somewhat of a flamboyant character, and scandalous stories about him were frequently in the newspaper. Moving from living on farms in Watsonville and Turlock with her family, to living and working in a San Francisco Hospital with other woman from all different places and backgrounds, had to have been a dramatic and life altering change for Frances.
After her graduation, Frances returned to her hometown and in 1916 and 1917 worked at the private Cottage Hospital in Turlock.
America entered World War I in April of 1917. By 1918, there was a great need for nurses in the armed services and in March of 1918, Frances was appointed an American Red Cross Nurse. The following month, she enlisted as a Reserve Nurse in the Army Nurse Corps.
In May of 1918, she reported for duty as a nurse at Camp Fremont in Menlo Park, CA. Camp Fremont was built in 1917 as a US Army training camp located on 7,000 acres of what is now Menlo Park and surrounding towns. Frances was stationed at the Camp Hospital (located on Willow Road and still there today as part of the Veteran’s Hospital). Her actual service at Camp Fremont only lasted about two months, part of which she was a patient instead of a nurse:
May 3, 1918 – “Miss Frances Evelyn Curtis, Reserve Nurse, Army Nurse Corps, reports for duty at this hospital, May 3, 1918 from Turlock, CA.”
May 5-18, 1918 – “Miss Curtis on sick report May 5, 1918—May 19, 1918. Diagnosis – Measles”
(These crowded camps were susceptible to all kinds of illnesses. Measles is highly, highly contagious and there was no vaccination for it at this time.)
July 2, 1918 – “Miss Frances Evelyn Curtis, Reserve Nurse, Army Nurse Corps, relieved from duty at this hospital.” (Frances Curtis, Military Records)
The camp hospital was a collection of wooden buildings with paper roofs and covered boardwalks. It was close to the San Francisco Bay and had wooden walkways to offset the dampness from the nearby marshes. It was located right next door to the Remount Station where thousands of mules and horses were kept (think of the smells)! Part of it burned down after Frances left…and she missed the flu epidemic which hit the camp in the fall of 1918 (World War I Army Training). But she did accrue her war service at Camp Fremont for two months in 1918…enough so that she was considered an Army Veteran for the rest of her life!
Next Frances moved to Salida, California. The Curtis family had moved to Salida after Frances’ father inherited a business and land in the town. At the beginning of 1919, Frances was admitted to the first class for public health nursing at the University of California in Berkeley. She graduated in August of 1919.
That same month, the Red Cross hired Frances to be the first public health nurse serving at its new Red Cross Health Center in Petaluma, CA. Public health and home nursing were very important topics at this time because the country was dealing with the devastating 1918-1920 flu pandemic. The Red Cross rented and repurposed a store front in the Doyle Building at 64 Washington Street, Petaluma. The local newspaper gives a nice glimpse of Frances’ life as a public health nurse.
Frances was scheduled to begin work in September and was thought to be “very efficient and capable.” (Petaluma Argus-Courier) In October of 1919 she spoke at the Women’s Club Tea to introduce a class in hygiene and home care of the sick she would offer for the community. The class was called “Home Nursing” and included 15 lessons. There was no cost and at the end recipients received diplomas. The goal was “a higher standard of health for the community and national life.” (Petaluma Argus-Courier)
The newspaper outlined the course, so we have a good idea of the scope of Frances’ knowledge and training. The course was designed to be practical as well as theoretical:
- Causes and Prevention of sickness
- House and the Home
- Babies and their Care
- Indications of Sickness
- Equipment and Care of the Sick Room
- Beds and Bed Making
- Baths and Bathing
- Applications and Methods for the Sick Room
- Feeding the Sick
- Medicines and other Remedies
- Applications of Heat, Cold and Counter Irritants
- Care of Patients with Communicable Disease
- Common Ailments and Emergencies
- Special points in the care of Children, Convalescents and the Aged (Petaluma Argus-Courier)
In January of 1920 the newspaper noted that Frances would attend the Red Cross nurses conference in San Francisco to get advanced training and learn “the very latest ideas and practice of the profession” which they strongly felt would benefit the whole community (Petaluma Daily Morning Courier). That same month the Red Cross board of directors met and commended Frances for “making a very excellent start in the work” since the inauguration of the health center (Petaluma Argus-Courier).
In the meantime, the flu was still active in the community and in February of 1920 Francis was its latest victim. The newspaper noted that “Miss Curtis has been very busy since the influenza epidemic started and has worked very hard caring for the patients at the Red Cross emergency hospital” (Petaluma Daily Morning Courier). It went on to say that Frances herself was now at the hospital with the flu.
Unlike some 50 million people around the world, Frances recovered. As part of her job as public health nurse, she visited local schools to examine “pupils’ eyes, mouth, ears, nose and throat.” (Petaluma Daily Morning Courier).
Sadly, in May of 1921 the Red Cross announced that the public health center would close due to lack of funds to operate it. The paper noted that “army nurse” Miss Curtis would move to San Francisco to work for the Red Cross there (Petaluma Daily Morning Courier).
Frances’ sister, Lois, remembered that Frances continued to work as a school and public health nurse until she retired. By 1925, she was the nurse at Mountain View High School in Mountain View, CA (Palo Alto Times). By 1929, when the depression hit, she was the school and public health nurse in Madera, California (Stockton Evening Record). She lived there until at least 1935 (US Census).
In 1932, Frances’ parents sold her two lots across the street from their house in the town of Salida for $10 (The Modesto Bee). In the midst of the Depression, times were unstable and they were trying to be sure that Frances had security and a place to live as she got older. Around 1938, when Bertha Curtis died very unexpectedly, Frances moved back to Salida and moved into the family home to care for her father until his death in 1941. Frances worked locally as a school nurse in Modesto until her retirement in 1944. After her retirement Frances moved to Modesto and lived near her sister Lois. She joined the First Presbyterian Church of Modesto in 1947.
Her savings account books were in a box of her things kept by Lois. The books show Frances had about $4,000 at the time of her retirement (about $64,000 today) and $516 left at the time of her death. Through her last years she made tiny withdrawels of no more than $5 or $10 at a time.
Her final days were spent in a nursing home in Modesto. Her four living brothers and sisters helped to pay for her care. The superintendent of the home said: “Miss Curtis was a woman of dignity and poise. She always carried herself with honor” (Eulogy).
At her memorial service, the pastor remarked that Frances dedicated her life to alleviating human suffering and “will be remembered by patients in Stanislaus and Madera counties for her efficient and compassionate devotion” (Eulogy). She was remembered exactly the same way by her family and friends. The pallbearers at her service were nephews Kenneth and Gordon Vosti, brother in laws Henry Vosti and Philip McKenney and brothers Glen and Leland Curtis. She is buried in the Acacia/Masonic Cemetery in Modesto, California. The inscription on her tombstone reads: “California Army Nurse Corps WWI” (Find A Grave).
Frances Evelyn Curtis (Daughter of James Lee and Bertha Eveland Curtis and sister of Lois Curtis Vosti – #1 on Curtis Family Tree)
Sources
All pictures that are colorized were done so in MyHeritage
195 Are Enrolled in HIgh School at Mt. View; Palo Alto Times; Palo Alto, CA; 26 Sep 1925
California State Hospital Records, 1856-1923; Ancestry.com; Provo, UT, USA; 2014
Conference of Nurses at S.F.; Petaluma Daily Morning Courier; Petaluma, CA 12 Jan 2023
Curtis; The Modesto Bee and News Herald; Modesto, CA; 31 Jan 1965
Health Center Opened Today; Petaluma Argus-Courier; Petaluma, CA; 13 Oct 1919
Health Center to Close; Petaluma Daily Morning Courier; Petaluma, CA; 28 May 1921
Health Nurse Has Flu; Petaluma Daily Morning Courier; Petaluma, CA; 18 Feb 1920
Local Notes; Petaluma Argus-Courier; Petaluma, CA; 05 Jun 1920
Nursing Classes; Petaluma Argus-Courier; Petaluma, CA; 09 Oct 1919
Public Health Nurse is Secured; Petaluma Daily Morning Courier; Petaluma, CA; 21 Aug 1919
Red Cross Directors Meet; Petaluma-Argus Courier; Petaluma, CA; 13 Jan 1920
Red Cross Health Center; Petaluma Daily Morning Courier; Petaluma, CA; 04 Feb 1920
Salida; Stockton Evening and Sunday Record; Stockton, CA; 03 Aug 1929
Wilcox, Barbara; World War I Army Training by San Francisco BAy: The Story of Camp Fremont; The History Press; 2016